NAVY'S FIRST SHIPBOARD TEST LAUNCH YIELDS SUCCESS

USS SHILOH (CG 67) conducted the AEGIS Light Exo-Atmospheric Projectile Intercept (ALI) Control Test Vehicle 1A (CTV-1A) flight test in the mid-Pacific using the range facilities of the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii, on Sept. 24. The CTV-1A flight test demonstrated the first shipboard launch of the Standard Missile 3 (SM-3), the U.S. Navy's new exo-atmospheric missile designed to counter the theater ballistic missile threat.

The launch achieved all test objectives demonstrating airframe stability and control through the second and third stage separation event.

The ALI project, part of the Navy Theater Wide (NTW) Theater Missile Defense program, is a progressive series of flight tests which culminate in a series of intercepts of theater ballistic missile targets in the exo-atmosphere. CTV-1A is a significant milestone in the ALI flight test series.